Rising in the West

Dan Tortora

09/14/2012

Jarrod West and the Syracuse passing game has been extremely productive during the young season. As the Orange prepare for Stony Brook and attempt to get their first win, West spoke with CuseNation.com.

Despite having yet to reach paydirt, wide receiver Jarrod West has been active on the offense, helping Syracuse to get the ball downfield.

Against Northwestern, West had four catches for 59 yards, averaging 14.8 yards per catch.

Last week versus USC, he upped his receptions to six, his yards to 94, and his average yards per catch to 15.7.

In both games, West was involved on a reception play that surpassed 30 yards.

But, West does not take all the credit, emphasizing the special talent that the Orange have at quarterback in Ryan Nassib.

"He's a great quarterback, great person also," West said, echoing the words of fellow wideout Alec Lemon.

"Just a smart guy that puts us in great situations," West continued. "Like sometimes there's places out there where it's just if he gets a certain look, he can audible. When he audibles, he puts us in great positions. He sees things that I'm like I don't know how he saw it, but he sees his coverages and stuff like that real good."

Nassib also sees the importance of instilling that he has faith in receivers, going back to them even after a drop. West attributes Nassib's willingness to try again also in the fact that Syracuse is playing such a fast tempo game offensively.

"With our offense, I don't [think] there's enough time to think about drops or anything like that," West expressed.. "I mean, we're back on the ball in like 12 seconds. We're trying to bang plays out and move the ball down the field, get the defense tired, and I think it's an effective way of playing, and Ryan's real successful in it."

With the no huddle motif differing from what West was used to last season, he spoke on how he feels about the new style.

"It's nice. Normally when you run a deep ball, you run all the way back to the huddle and you have to run back out and line up. And now, you just jog back to your spot, just listen in, and get ready to rock and roll."

One player that will not be rocking, rolling, or contributing on the field for the upcoming game against Stony Brook is West's fellow receiver, Jeremiah Kobena. West shared his thoughts on the loss.

"I think we have a great receiving core," West said. "Anybody can go off at any time. We rotate receivers in and out anyway, so, I mean, everyone's used to it, and we're just gonna keep filtering in guys and whoever gets stuck in a certain situation, we're just hoping they make plays."

Two receivers who, along with West, have been making plays to move the offense forward in this young season, Alec Lemon and Marcus Sales, have also been having a positive impact on West's game, who stated that having them on the field "…helped out a lot." West went on to say, "They're good friends of mine, and they've done it. Alec [Lemon] was second team all-Big East last year and Marcus [Sales], he had a bunch of games two years ago where he exploited defenses and he knows how to get open and they're good people to watch in practice."

However, even with West being part of a passing attack that has gained over 800 yards in two games, Syracuse has yet to win a game.

"I think our offense has been doing real well," West shared. "We're putting up a lot of big numbers and things like that, but we're still leaving a lot of stuff on the field. First game, we had like 600 yards we could've possibly had 800. In the second game, we put up 400, could've had 600, you know what I'm saying, there's also more to gain. The big thing is we're learning and we're getting better each day."

The Orange will have their third opportunity for their first win when they take on Stony Brook on Saturday, September 15th, at 4pm Eastern. The Seawolves' offense has been able to hold onto the ball in the second half, providing less opportunities for the opposing offense to score.

With Syracuse needing close to three minutes or more for most of their touchdown drives this season, if Stony Brook is able to condense the clock, the Orange will have to utilize every moment they have, especially late.

"When we have the ball, we're gonna try to score, as much time as it takes, but when they have the ball, it's not really in my hands, so [I] leave that to the defense," West said. "I have faith in our defense, that they can do well and if they want to slow it down, it's fine. We're gonna do whatever it takes to win."